Patti Daniels posts these two photos on Bluesky. She says both photos were taken this weekend:
~~~ RAS: "Which one of these men are we supposed to be worried doesn't/didn't know what he has been signing and orders given under his authority?" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Some helpers dressed up this old guy in a ridiculous red hat and white golf shirt and pushed him out into the lunchroom. They put a sign in front of him with his name on it. Maybe the sign has has name on the back, too, to help him remember who he is. When he's conscious. Which he is not. He cannot make it through a meal, even one being served in the middle of the day. This is what you see in a nursing home. Not an assisted living home, where most of the residents are elderly but chipper. A nursing home, where people cannot take care of themselves.
~~~ The Amazing Biden Set-up
Biden's Aides Did It While Trump Was President* and Before Biden Became President
... I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras, they said it was a Biden setup... I don’t mean Biden – look, Biden didn’t know he was alive, but it was the people that surround the Resolute Desk, surround Biden when he was there, which was about very little time, and the people of Honduras really thought he was set up and it was a terrible thing. He was the president of the country and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country, and they said it was a Biden administration setup, and I looked at the facts and I agree with them. -- Donald Trump, on why he plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a major facilitator of an international drug-trafficking ring ~~~
... much of the investigation occurred during Mr. Trump’s first term, and one of the lead investigators in the case was Emil Bove III, then a prosecutor for the Southern District of New York and later one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers. -- Tyler Pager of the New York Times
Juan Orlando's brother "Tony Hernández was arrested in late 2018, and during his trial exposed evidence linking [Juan Orlando] to illicit activities.... [In August 2019,] US prosecutors identified the sitting president in court documents that said he had taken part in a conspiracy in which drug proceeds went to support his election campaign.... The trial against Tony [which began in October 2019], along with prosecutions of other drug traffickers, exposed allegations that Juan Orlando had taken millions in drug money to help fund his political campaigns in return for assisting drug traffickers while in office. -- Sam Woolston, Parker Asmaan & Mike LaSusa of Insight Crime ~~~
Anyone know who was president in 2018 supposedly making up evidence on Juan? DJT, correct. -- RAS, in Monday's Comments ~~~
Marie: The great thing about tearing down part of the White House? Not so much space to decorate for Christmas! You remember Melanie's hall of blood-red trees? It's been reduced to asbestos dust. This little "Best Best" cranberry topiary propped on a side table in the Red Room will have to suffice: ~~~
~~~ Rachel Kurzius of the Washington Post: “The Grand Foyer also has a painting that depicts Trump bloodied yet triumphant after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, with three small holiday bouquets sitting on the table beneath and flanked by a flower-filled light.” So Christmas-y!
Jonah Bromwich & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court said on Monday that Alina Habba had been serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, dealing a blow to the Trump administration and most likely setting up a showdown at the Supreme Court. Ms. Habba is one of a number of U.S. attorneys whom the Trump administration has sought to keep in power through a series of unusual maneuvers even though she was neither confirmed by the Senate nor appointed by district trial court judges.... In its ruling, the three-judge panel, based in Philadelphia, affirmed an earlier ruling by a Federal District Court judge. The court said that the government’s tactics had violated the law as written.... It was not immediately clear how the ruling would affect legal proceedings in the New Jersey federal courts or whether Ms. Habba will continue to lead the office in the near future. The courts had already been operating in a kind of limbo, given her uncertain status. Certain types of criminal cases were slowed, and some grand jury proceedings were halted.” The AP's report is here.
Maxine Joselow of the New York Times: “The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday reinstated 14 employees who had been on administrative leave since August, when they wrote a letter to Congress warning that ... [Donald] Trump was gutting disaster response in the United States. The move ended more than three months of uncertainty for the employees, who had been subject to an internal investigation into what the Trump administration deemed their 'misconduct.' In notices sent to the workers last week, copies of which were reviewed by The New York Times, FEMA officials wrote that 'the misconduct investigation has been closed, and as a result you are being removed from administrative leave.' The notices did not disclose the inquiry’s findings.”
All the Emperor's Men ... Are Billionaires & Sycophants. Jonathan Lemire of the Atlantic: “Every president, of course, deals with being in a bubble, distanced by the demands on his time and the extraordinary security concerns that come with the office. But in his return to the presidency this year, Trump has seldom ventured across the country to anywhere other than his own clubs. He also inhabits something of a news silo, watching far-right cable channels such as One America News Network and Newsmax along with Fox News. Even his social-media consumption has become narrower: Instead of being on the app formerly known as Twitter, where he’d occasionally encounter contrary views, he now posts solely on Truth Social, which he owns and where he is surrounded by sycophants. And his own White House staff, this time largely populated by true believers and yes-men (and a few yes-women), only adds to the echo chamber.” Thanks to akaWendy for the link.
Jennifer Rubin of the Contrarian: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who makes up in false bravado what he lacks in judgment and expertise, appears to have committed an inexcusable, unjustified violation of black-letter international and domestic law, according to a stunning Washington Post story released last Friday.... The Trump regime claims the report is false, but the evidence has not been specifically debunked. No explanation has been given as to why the video was edited to omit this part of the attack. Putting aside for the moment the legitimacy of the underlying order to shoot these boats out of the water (which, frankly, is hard to justify based on a false theory and made-up facts), it is impossible to imagine any Pentagon lawyer blessing this action. The concept of hors de combat — literally, out of combat — is a fundamental aspect of the law of war that prevents harming those disabled from combat."
~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: I posted some entries after 9 am ET.
Charlie Nash of Mediaite: “During a Q&A with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked by a reporter about his decision to pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking and weapons charges in June last year. 'You have made so clear how you want to keep drugs out of the U.S. Can you explain more about why you would pardon a notorious drug trafficker?' questioned [a] reporter.... Trump replied, 'Well, I don’t know who you’re talking about.' [The reporter specified JOH.]
“'Well I was told – I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras, they said it was a Biden setup,' responded Trump. 'I don’t mean Biden – look, Biden didn’t know he was alive, but it was the people that surround the Resolute Desk, surround Biden when he was there, which was about very little time, and the people of Honduras really thought he was set up and it was a terrible thing.' Trump continued, 'He was the president of the country and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country, and they said it was a Biden administration setup, and I looked at the facts and I agree with them.' Asked, 'What evidence can you share that he was set up?' the president replied, 'Well, you take a look. I mean, they could say that you take any country you want, if somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn’t mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: It is amazing how a gang of unnamed aides hovering around President Biden's desk could get DOJ prosecutors (and presumably a grand jury) to charge Hernandez, then get a jury to convict him, then get a judge to sentence Hernandez to 45 years in prison.
AP: “... Donald Trump said Sunday that he would release the results of his MRI test that he received in October. 'If you want to have it released, I’ll release it, the president said during an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida. He said the results of the MRI were 'perfect.'... Trump added Sunday that he has 'no idea' on what part of his body he got the MRI. 'It was just an MRI,' he said. 'What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.'” MB: Don't hold your breath. ~~~
~~~ David Gilmour of Mediaite: “But when CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked what part of his body had been scanned, Trump swerved into attack: 'I have no idea. It was just an MRI. It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and aced it,' he said before pointing at her: 'I got a perfect mark which you would be incapable of doing.' The president then abruptly ending the exchange: 'Goodbye everybody” – pointing at another female reporter and saying, 'you too!'” MB: I do wonder why the AP report did not disclose the full exchange between Trump and the reporters. The AP report (with no byline) makes Trump sound as if he was magnanimously agreeing to accommodate reporters' demands.. Now we find out, unsurprisingly, that he was his usual rude self. This is why the general public has no idea what a POS Trump is. ~~~
~~~ Charlie Nash of Mediaite: Wherein Trump defends his calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) "seriously retarded" even though a reporter informed him that "many Americans do find ['retarded'] an offensive word."
Noah Robertson, et al., of the Washington Post: “In targeting [Sen. Mark] Kelly [D-Az.] and another prominent Democratic critic of the administration, Rep. Eugene Vindman of Virginia, the Defense Department under [Pete] Hegseth has been co-opted into the president’s norm-shattering bid to exploit what are supposed to be the nonpartisan tools of government to crush political foes.... Enlisting the Pentagon in this effort poses a unique threat to American democracy, according to historians, retired military officers and legal experts. Long-standing taboos against using the armed forces to further a president’s political machinations have helped ensure that service members obey their civilian leaders — and prevent this powerful institution from being used to suppress Americans’ constitutional rights. Discarding that standard, experts say, risks setting a harmful precedent.... Like the president, Hegseth has shown little regard for boundaries intended to insulate the military from political interference.” The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: It may be the Bezos Post where democracy goes to die (or something like that), but a few reporters are managing to at least get in some sideways swipes at Trump and the Dancing Trumpettes. Sadly, many top reporters & some columnists of yesteryear understandably have left the building. ~~~
~~~ Michael Gold of the New York Times: “A top Republican and Democrats in Congress suggested on Sunday that American military officials might have committed a war crime in ... [Donald] Trump’s offensive against boats in the Caribbean after a news report said that during one such attack, a follow-up strike was ordered to kill survivors. The remarks came in response to a Washington Post report on Friday that said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order to kill everyone aboard boats suspected of smuggling drugs, and that this led a military commander to carry out a second strike to kill those who had initially survived an attack in early September. 'Obviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act,' Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio and a former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said on 'Face the Nation' on CBS. Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said on CBS that if the report was accurate, the attack 'rises to the level of a war crime.' And on CNN, when asked if he believed a second strike to kill survivors constituted a war crime, Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, answered, “It seems to.
“Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mr. Trump expressed confidence in Mr. Hegseth. The president suggested that he 'wouldn’t have wanted' a second strike that killed survivors, before reiterating that he believed Mr. Hegseth had denied that account of the attack. The defense secretary did not directly contradict The Post’s reporting in his Friday statement but called it 'fabricated and inflammatory.'” MB: IOW, Drunk Pete & even Dementia Don know Pete is in trouble. And, to be clear, IMO, this was a war crime and/or murder when the U.S. made the first strike on that boat; the second strike compounds it. ~~~
~~~ Mariana Alfaro, et al., of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said Sunday that he has 'great confidence' that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give a spoken order to kill all crew members aboard a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea in September. Trump said Hegseth told him 'he did not say that, and I believe him, 100 percent.'” ~~~
~~~ Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: “Conservative legal commentator Andy McCarthy torpedoed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s response to the blockbuster report which stated the secretary ordered the killing of everyone on board a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean in September. In a scathing National Review column published late Saturday, McCarthy — who also serves as a Fox News contributor — made clear that he believes the events, as laid out in the Washington Post report, are patently illegal.” MB: The linked National Review column is firewalled, but I was able to read it. If you can't access it, DePaolo summarizes the highlights.
That Was Then. I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage. This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people. -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech, 1932 ~~~
~~~ ⭐This Is Now. Heather Cox Richardson: “The Trump administration is replacing American democracy with a kleptocracy, a system of corruption in which a network of ruling elites use the institutions of government to steal public assets for their own private gain. It permits virtually unlimited theft while the head of state provides cover for his cronies through pardons and the uneven application of the law. It is the system Russia’s president Vladimir Putin exploits in Russia, and ... Donald J. Trump is working to establish it in the United States of America.... On Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the Trump administration’s negotiations with Russia over Ukraine.... The administration’s plan for peace was a Russian-led blueprint for joint U.S.-Russia economic cooperation that would funnel contracts for rebuilding Ukraine, extracting the valuable minerals in the Arctic, and even space exploration to a few favored U.S. and Russian businessmen.” Read on. ~~~
~~~ ⭐Guardian Editors: “When Swiss tycoons handed Donald Trump a gold bar and a Rolex watch – gifts that were followed by a cut in US tariffs – it ... was a reminder of how concentrated wealth seems to buy access and bend policy. It may, alarmingly, become the norm if the global 'inequality emergency' continues. That’s the message of the most recent work by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. The economist sees the yawning gap between rich and poor as a human-made crisis which is destroying politics, society and the planet. He’s not wrong. The problem is no longer confined to a few fragile states. It is a global harm, with 90% of the world’s population living under the World Bank’s definition of 'high income inequality'. The US ... is the most unequal country in the G7, followed by the UK.... [Stiglitz's] His blueprint for change is contained within the G20’s first-ever inequality report, endorsed by key European, African and middle-income nations.”
Tim Ross of Politico: “Donald Trump’s drive to secure peace in Ukraine must not let Vladimir Putin off the hook for war crimes committed by Russian forces, a top EU official has warned, effectively setting a new red line for a deal. In an interview with Politico, Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, said negotiators must ensure the push for a ceasefire does not result in Russia escaping prosecution. His comments reflect concerns widely held in European capitals that the original American blueprint for a deal included the promise of a 'full amnesty for actions committed during the war,' alongside plans to reintegrate Russia into the world economy. The Trump team’s push to rehabilitate the Kremlin chief comes despite international condemnation of Russia for alleged crimes including the abduction of 20,000 Ukrainian children and attacks targeting civilians in Bucha, Mariupol and elsewhere.” ~~~
~~~ Judd Legum of Popular Information: Steve “Witkoff, a billionaire with no previous diplomatic experience, is in charge of mediating an extraordinarily complex international conflict.... While serving in this role, Witkoff has maintained an active financial partnership with Len Blavatnik, a billionaire sanctioned by Ukraine over his ties to Russia. Witkoff and Blavatnik are co-developing a massive residential real estate project in New York City.... Witkoff is also partnered with Blavatnik on ... an ultra-luxury condo development in Miami.... Buried in Witkoff’s 33-page financial disclosure form, quietly posted to the White House website in September, [is the revelation] ... that Witkoff has ongoing financial interests that link him to Russian oligarchs and others hostile to Ukrainian interests.... On November 17, Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to the White House Counsel and the Office of Government ethics noting that 'no agency ethics official signed the form… even though the 60-day deadline for an ethics official to review his form passed in October 2025.' The Senators say the form 'appears to have inaccurate or incomplete information.'”
Ben Rhodes in a New York Times op-ed on how President Biden and many Democrats have erred in embracing Netanyahu and his far-right, punishing authoritarian agenda: “... it is past time for Democrats to stop supporting this Israeli government. By letting go of an outdated approach, Democrats can reclaim their values, foster a bigger and more stable coalition and start building the world they want, rather than defending the indefensible.”
John Bowden of the Independent: “DHS Secretary Kristi Noem blamed the Biden administration on Sunday as the nation reacted to the horrific shooting of two National Guard troops deployed to the streets of Washington D.C. one week ago.... Police identified 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who worked with the CIA in Afghanistan against the Taliban and other forces, as the suspect.... During an appearance this Sunday on ABC’s This Week, Noem echoed her boss’s criticism of the Biden administration’s vetting procedures for Afghans who aided U.S. forces... 'He was brought into the country by the Biden administration through Operation Allies Welcome. And then, maybe vetted after that, but not done well, based on what the guidelines were put forward by President Biden,' Noem said on ABC News. 'Since he's been here, we believe he could have been radicalized in his home community and in his home state.'... NBC’s Kristen Welker ... questioned repeatedly why the Trump administration hadn’t completed the same vetting earlier in 2025, when his asylum application (submitted a year earlier) was accepted by DHS.... 'The vetting process, Kristen, happens when the person comes into the country,' Noem argued.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Try to make sense of Noem's argument: (1) Biden's people didn't properly vet Lakanwal when he came into the country in 2021. (2) Trump knew that (because Biden bad). (3) Still, Trump's people granted Lakanwal asylum knowing he had not been thoroughly vetted. (4) Then sometime after he got to the U.S. (and after the Biden vetting) people in the U.S. "radicalized" Lakanwal. So how the hell is it Biden's fault for letting Lakanwal into the country when it was Trump's people who (a) granted him asylum while (b) conducting no vetting AND he supposedly (c) didn't become radicalized until after the Biden administration vetted him? Somebody should tell Barbie Kristi that CYA excuses are supposed to seem logical. On the other hand, her hair extensions did look very nice for the teevee interviews.
Rhian Lubin of the Independent: “The FBI is a 'rudderless ship' under director Kash Patel, who was described as being 'in over his head' in a damning assessment by active-duty and retired agents. Days after ... Donald Trump denied reports he was considering ousting Patel from his post as FBI director, a group of 24 experienced agents has shared a scathing report detailing their thoughts on his first six months in office, due to be presented to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees later this week. The report, obtained by the New York Post, comes after Patel has faced the heat for his use of government aircraft for multiple personal trips, assigning a SWAT team to protect his girlfriend, and reported clashes with senior Trump administration officials.”
MEANWHILE, Back at Corruption Junction. Cecilia Kang, et al., of the New York Times: “David Sacks, the Trump administration’s A.I. and crypto czar, has helped formulate policies that aid his Silicon Valley friends and many of his own tech investments.... Among his actions as the White House’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar: Mr. Sacks has offered astonishing White House access to his tech industry compatriots and pushed to eliminate government obstacles facing A.I. companies. That has set up giants like Nvidia to reap an estimate of as much as $200 billion in new sales. Mr. Sacks has recommended A.I. policies that have sometimes run counter to national security recommendations, alarming some of his White House colleagues and raising questions about his priorities. Mr. Sacks has positioned himself to personally benefit.... Mr. Sacks has been allowed to serve in government while working in private industry because he is a 'special government employee,' a title the White House typically confers on experts who temporarily advise the government.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Honduras. Annie Correal & Jeff Ernst of the New York Times: “Election authorities in Honduras announced on Sunday night that the conservative former mayor endorsed by ... [Donald] Trump and a sportscaster rival were virtually tied in a presidential election that many predicted would be volatile even before Mr. Trump weighed in on the race. The preliminary and partial results showed that Mr. Trump’s pick, Nasry Asfura, and the sportscaster, Salvador Nasralla, were in the lead, with ballots from just over a third of polling places counted. The candidate for the left-wing party in power, Rixi Moncada, was trailing far behind, the early results showed, with around half the votes cast for each of the right-wing candidates.”
Israel. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel asked its president on Sunday to pardon him in his long-running corruption trial, a request that the president called 'extraordinary' and that critics said would run counter to the rule of law. Mr. Netanyahu’s unusual pre-emptive appeal to President Isaac Herzog, while his trial is still underway, came about two weeks after ... [Donald] Trump sent a letter to Mr. Herzog urging him to pardon the Israeli prime minister. A statement by the Israeli president’s office said the request would have 'significant implications,' and that he would 'responsibly and sincerely consider' it after seeking expert opinions.” ~~~
~~~ David Halbfinger of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request on Sunday for a pardon that would short-circuit his long-running corruption trial ... seemed ripped from the playbook of ... [Donald] Trump. Mr. Netanyahu’s petition to the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, admitted nothing and expressed no contrition. In a one-page letter that he himself signed, he did not use the word 'pardon,' instead stiffly requesting an 'end of the trial.' It came a little over two weeks after [Mr.] Trump sent a letter to Mr. Herzog urging him to pardon Mr. Netanyahu.”
16 comments:
Funny how Fatty and his dipso douche didn’t deny the “Kill them all” report until the charge of war crimes started surfacing.
Didn’t say it? Of COURSE he said it. Drunk Pete is the Secretary of WAR! He loves WAR crimes. He’s all about lethality and kicking ass! He called all the top brass together to scream about how HIS military wasn’t going to abide by weenie rules like the Geneva Conventions. He was gonna find the enemy and kill, kill, kill! Just like those characters in the movies and video games.
He gave that order. 100 percent.
The problem with proving it is that everyone down the chain of command who followed that illegal order is on the hook as well. There is no “Nuremberg Defense” for war crimes, ie, “I was just following orders”.
But Drunk Pete gave that order. As a part time TV host on Fox, he yelled about how unfair it was to hold anyone accountable for war crimes.
Fatty has his “Get out of jail” card, but this evil prick has none. Put his ass on trial.
So here's the President of the United States going in for an MRI but no one tells him why?
There's only two possibilities. First, he's too far gone to understand what's going on so they just didn't say anything, or second, he's lying.
Whenever there are two possibilities concerning Donald Trump and one of them involves lying, that's the one to go with.
I just had a CT scan not long ago, but they told me exactly what it was for. I knew why they were doing it. Had they not, the first question out of my mouth would have been "Why are we doing this?" Which brings up the first possibility. So Fatty is being wheeled in for a CT but no one tells him why and he doesn't ask? Bullshit. (I wonder if Melanie is ever in on any of these many hospital visits. Might be she's at home with fingers crossed getting ready for the will to trigger.)
All of which means that he's lying. He says he doesn't what they were scanning, but it wasn't his head. Both things can't be true. He can't not know a thing but then say but it wasn't this. And "acing" his cognitive exam has nothing to do with anything. There could be a hundred reasons for an MRI that have nothing to do with his "aced" exam.
Which brings us back to Joe Biden. We had to listen for months about how horrible it was that Biden White House staff hid his condition from the American people. But that's exactly what's going on now. I'm betting there have been plenty of doctor and hospital visits that are never reported.
Oh well, the fact is, he looks terrible. No amount of face paint can hide how bad he looks. He's clearly on a bobsled heading south. And it can't hit bottom too soon for me. Here's something to think about. Just think of how many people both here and abroad die every day because of this monster. If the end is near, I wish it were even closer.
But here's something only a few people in the world can thank Fat Hitler for: the rise in escape hatches for crooks, traitors, and war criminals. Oh, except for. Bolsonaro, Mr. Ankle Monitor Blowtorch, who saw Fatty attempt a coup and thought "What a great idea!" He tried to emulate Fatty's insurrection scheme but it seems Brazilian justice is better than American justice. Whatchoo think about that, Alito and Thomas?
But now every war criminal and traitor out there wants a pardon. Fatty's war criminal pal Bibi wants his own pardon. Fatty pardoned a Honduran drug kingpin who just happened to have been the president. Now we have another war criminal who might need a pardon pretty soon, Drunk Pete. The Inebriated Imbecile might not be found guilty of war crimes since that puts everyone in the Pentagon chain of command all the way down to whoever threw the switch to fire those missiles on the hook, but talk of war crimes and illegal orders might just be enough to put the kibosh on all these Murders in the Caribbean. Unless the US codes of justice have changed overnight, drug trafficking is not punishable as a capital crime. No one gets the death penalty for that. If these guys are running drugs, chase 'em down, board the boats and arrest them if need be. "Kill them all" is not a legally prescribed way to go.
This one's a bit dreamy, ,maybe, but it's a dream I still share:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/opinion/americans-wont-have-faith-in-the-rule-of-law-until-the-law-works-for-them.html
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, vote suppression by the traitors is in overdrive.
"Anti-voting activists met earlier this month in Worcester, Mass. for the annual fall summit of the New England chapter of Cleta Mitchell’s influential Election Integrity Network. I obtained the agenda and notes from the confab, where Mitchell and other anti-voting activists and election deniers, as well as two friendly state lawmakers, discussed plans to push for severely limiting early and mail voting."
This Cleta Mitchell person is a piece of work. I recall reading about her a while back, but check out the link included in this piece to her background. Talk about snakes in the shithole....wow.
Ultimatum or TACO time?
It appears that Fat Hitler has given Venezuelan leader Maduro (two scam artists talking it out) an ultimatum, leave, or else.
The problem with an ultimatum is that it's more than just a line in the sand. It's endgame, or should be, it the word has any meaning at all. But it may not. We're talking about the mercurial TACO Man here. What does today might be nothing tomorrow.
But if you say "Do this, or else" you better be ready to back up the "or else" part, otherwise you're a weenie in a diaper.
But what is the "or else"? War? A Putin style bombing campaign (because that looks like soooo much fun, bombing orphanages and children's hospitals in the middle of the night). And what kind of war? Boots on the ground? Venezuela ain't Grenada. Estimates as to the size of the force necessary to subdoe the whole country are running to around 100,000 troops. Are Americans really ready for body bags coming back just so's a fat man can show his ass to the world and proclaim himself the biggest gorilla in this hemisphere?
OR....will he TACO out as he often does, giving some lame-ass excuse for why he didn't follow through on all his tough talk.
"The dog at my war plans;"
"I was just gonna, but...um...a thing happened."
"Pete sez the war is over. We won! Hooray for me. Nobel prize, please."
and one of my favorites...
"I ordered the CIA to engage in covert operations there to bring Maduro down...two weeks from now..."
Um...covert means secret, right? It ain't covert if you blab it all over the news.
Well, I guess we'll find out what this next Fatty fried fuckup will look like.
@Akhilleus: A third possibility: maybe the doctors didn't tell Trump why they would order an MRI because they figured the reason would hurt his vanity and they didn't feel like being called stupid or piggy or the most horrible person in the world who should have his license to practice revoked. (If I were Trump's doctor, I might say, "Wow! You're a genius. Nobody in history has ever aced this incredibly difficult girl-breasts-epstein-pubic-hair-signature cognitive test before. Let's give you an MRI to see if we can find out why you're so brilliant!")
I'm ashamed to admit I've watched at least part of a number of those highly-partisan videos deriding Trump for one thing or another. They're usually just speculative & sensational. However, in the course of watching these videos, I saw three clips that showed Trump unable to walk properly. In each case, he was in a unique situation, but the anomaly looked about the same. He could not put one foot in front of the other. And he took tiny, irregular steps (not necessarily in a forward direction). Over one of the clips a medical person (not sure if he was a doctor) said Trump's gait was usually symptomatic of having had a stroke that affected one side of his body. When you're walking, most of the time you have one foot off the ground. but one of Trump's legs had become so weak that he couldn't rely on it to hold him up for the brief moment it takes to step forward with the other foot. So that's why he wasn't able to walk properly.
MRIs can detect -- among other things -- evidence of prior strokes. So it seems to me doctors might have observed Trump's inability to walk "normally" and ordered an MRI to see if it helped them diagnose the cause.
Jonathan Lemire, in The Atlantic, on T****'s Bubble-Wrapped Presidency
"Every president, of course, deals with being in a bubble, distanced by the demands on his time and the extraordinary security concerns that come with the office. But in his return to the presidency this year, Trump has seldom ventured across the country to anywhere other than his own clubs.
....
Everyone around Trump, and everything he is seeing on TV and on his phone, is telling him that he’s right. But poll after poll suggests that Americans believe Trump is now getting it wrong and has lost focus on what got him elected."
Given all of the malpractice by senior officials that we have seen in this administration, it is reasonable to assume that THEY assume DiJiT will pardon them preemptively before they are charged with anything. He clearly thinks he has the power to create personal general immunity by signing a list of people the law can't touch for any actions they perform in their official or personal capacities.
So in addition to opening impeachment inquiries on day one of the next Congress, the House shoujld also define pardon to prevent preemptive pardons. Until recently, the pardon power has been used for people who have been convicted ... not for people who may be charged with someting in the future. Nixon was a big exception. If the House can pass legislation that the senate will also pass, with a veto proof majority (yes, a high bar), it would suddenly cause all the Bondis, Noems, Hedgseths, Patels, etc. to realize that DiJiT cannot cover their 6's after he is gone.
The House may not even need legislation. They redefined a legislative day to be "until the end of the session", so if the job is to define words, maybe they have the power all by themselves? I don't know.
But as long as DiJiT has Robertson's Immunity Magic Elixir and the power to give prospective immunity through pre-pardon, we have no laws. The king can do no wrong.
Juan Orlando Hernandez
"Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, often referred to by his initials JOH, is one of the only heads of state ever to be prosecuted for drug trafficking in the United States. JOH’s downfall began in October 2016, when his brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, became a “person of interest” in a US drug investigation.
Tony Hernández was arrested in late 2018, and during his trial exposed evidence linking JOH to illicit activities. In early 2022, shortly after his presidential term ended, Hernández was arrested and extradited to the United States, where he was convicted in federal court."
Anyone know who was president in 2018 supposedly making up evidence on Juan? DJT, correct.
Creepy Propaganda
"A secretive Fort Bragg operation that specializes in influencing people’s thoughts has released a hypnotic recruitment video that is laced with hidden meanings and strange images.
Known as the 4th Psychological Operations-Airborne, or 4th PSYOP, the group specializes in “using the power of the mind to persuade opinion and discourse” among the nation’s enemies.
The 1:17-second clip, posted Nov. 19 on social media, is a string of baffling clips, including old cartoons, masked figures hiding in plain sight and a group of people staring blankly at the viewer over the phrase: “We are everywhere.”"
This weekend juxtaposition. Which one of these men are we supposed to be worried doesn't/didn't know what he has been signing and orders given under his authority?
RAS,
Creepy is right. In fact, this reminds me of the recruitment film played in "The Parallax View". In the wake of the multiple assassinations in the 60s, a number of conspiracy themed films were made exploring the underbelly of American politics and espionage. "Three Days of the Condor" was another. "The Conversation", "All the President's Men" (just imagine a film with this title looking at the Fat Hitler bunch), and "Marathon Man" added to the list.
In "The Parallax View" (great film, by the way), Warren Beatty, while investigating a group that recruits assassins for political hits, is shown a film designed to test the likelihood of any subject who might fit the character requirements necessary to be a political assassin. Psyops as a military tool has a long history. Rome was expert at the use of propaganda, visual displays of power and brute force, etc. But it's interesting that the Army is now recruiting people specifically for this job.
Weirdly, as I watched the "Parallax" recruitment film, I realized that this is exactly the sort of thing that wouild appeal to the J6 thugs, to ICE recruits, and to more than a handful of cabinet level assholes now running things in DC.
The film begins with wholesome images of life, mother, father, babies, the flag, apple pie, etc., but soon slips in more violent imagery, images of love displaced by images of sex, pictures of "the enemy" (Hitler, Mao, Castro) which then transform these people into heroes (very Stephen Miller-ish). Images of racial murders, lynchings and the like. I'm sure by the end of this thing, most of the J6 crowd would be running to sign up and would happily sign in blood.
So, is the Army looking to influence "the enemy"? Or to homegrow a few of our own. Shit, they can stop right now. We've got plenty already.
Test
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/us/hegseth-drug-boat-strike-order-venezuela.html
So will the admiral be dumb enough to take one for the team?
Waaaahhhh
How great is this?
"Joe Ceballos, a longtime Republican and small-town mayor in Kansas, is facing felony voter fraud charges and possible deportation from the presidential administration he voted for.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) announced the charges a day after Ceballos was reelected mayor of Clearwater, Kan., a town of 2,653 people according to the 2020 Census. The charges include three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury, felony offenses that Kobach said carry a maximum penalty of 68 months in prison and up to $200,000 in fines.
The Department of Homeland Security has also threatened to begin the legal process of deporting Ceballos to Mexico, where he hasn’t lived since he was four years old.
A recent profile of Ceballos, written by Roy Wenzl for The Wichita Eagle, revealed that the 54-year-old did not understand that as a Mexican immigrant, he was not eligible to vote in U.S. elections, which he has been doing since 1991."
Oops...the guy said he's voted for Trump several times. You get what you asked for.
Post a Comment